Winemaker Notes
Exuberant multivitamin juice-style fruit with a touch of grated nuts, describes a wide arc immediately followed by deep flavors; fruity-sweet and full-bodied but also very lively, mineral-saline notes before a long finish, another sure bet.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Ried Renner 1OTW offers a clear, intense and elegant bouquet of perfectly ripe fruits intertwined with delicate notes of dark stones and even hints of iodine. On the palate, this is a full-bodied, creamy-textured, elegant and
well-balanced Gruner Veltliner with some lactic features but a crystalline, finely grippy and savory, even salty finish. It probably needs even more time. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in September 2022. Best After 2022. Rating: 92+
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Wine Spectator
Packs power and energy, with apple puree and quince draped in honey and mineral accents. Creamy and harmonious on the glossy palate, with a pleasingly bitter mineral aftertaste. Drink now through 2027.
Fun to say and delightfully easy to drink, Grüner Veltliner calls Austria its homeland. While some easily quaffable Grüners come in a one-liter—a convenient size—many high caliber single vineyard bottlings can benefit from cellar aging. Somm Secret—About 75% of the world’s Grüner Veltliner comes from Austria but the variety is gaining ground in other countries, namely Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the United States.
Climbing north and slightly east of the Kremstal region, Kamptal has very little vineyard area bordering the Danube River (unlike Wachau and Kremstal, whose vineyards run along it). The region takes its name from the river called Kamp, which traverses it north and south. Kamptal’s densely planted vineyards represent eight percent of Austria’s total.
The area experiences wide diurnal temperature variations like the Wachau but with less rain and more frost. Its vast geologic diversity makes it suitable for various experimentations with other varieties besides Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, such as Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder), Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, St. Laurent and Zweigelt.
But the region is probably most noted for the beautiful and expansive terraced Heiligenstein, arguably one of the world’s top Riesling sites, as well as some of Austria’s most extraordinary Grüner Veltliner vineyards. Kamptal’s soils, which are mostly loess and sand with some gravel and rocks, make it suitable for Grüner Veltliner, so much so that actually half of the zone is planted to that grape.